You can see why the club signed Hampshire. I know they are only kids, but I've not seen much spark from either of the 6's that have played so far this preseason.

Not sure what game you watched. Barrow were the the better side. Their forwards carried them well. The wind seem to play a big part at times in the game. Still happy with the result some good youngsters puting strong performances in. Nsemba looked better in this game. Mago isn’t blowing out his ar$e as much and did two decent 20 min stints. Shorrocks needs to look over his shoulder as one of them younger lads will be taking his position

Was thinking the same in regards Hampshire Isa and Thornley who have been criticised one way or another for being part of the squad in 2023.

The young lads really struggled with the physicality of playing against men.

It is very rare that a young lad comes straight in from the junior pathway and stays in the 17 week in week out without dropping out. Obviously from time to time it happens but that tend to be a bit special.

After a good run out last week some of the same lads really struggled with the physicality against Barrow. It’s a huge step up playing against 17-18 year olds to playing against men and generally we do a good job of nurturing that talent with loan spells so the lads can bridge that gap.

Thornley, Rocky and Isa have proven that they can cope with that level of physicality over a sustained period.

Isa due to the Bateman situation is the one that we will rely on maybe a bit more than we should.

In regards the game itself we lost the small battles due to the aggressive nature and physicality of Barrow.

Nsemba again showed cameos of his potential but probably not enough.

Eckersley again I felt showed a few moments of real quality.

Ellis went well and looked to have adopted a more aggressive attitude and certainly put him self about and was busy whilst he was on. Mago, more minutes but reduced impact. Could potentially be a tough year for him I think but only his first game. Switched off on defence once badly which would have been punished by a SL team not filling in on the inside.

I felt we looked a little sluggish out of 9 until the introduction of Forber.

Shorrocks took on the linking 13 role and I hope he finds his feet there but I’m not convinced about him, just seems to be something missing, but not sure what.

A good preseason game the coaches will have learned more from that than they did last week.

Forber, Hill and Eckserley looked good. Other than that no-one really got me excited about their first team prospects going forward. That's not to say there's anything to worry about - it just wasn't a very exciting performance generally (the weather will have had an impact).

Mago at least looked a little slimmer and fitter. Ellis was solid but no real stand out moments (story of his Wigan career so far). Shorrocks worked hard but again with limited impact.

Nsemba doesn't look a realistic first team contender yet which leaves a bit of concern for 2nd row depth.

Echo what’s been said really. Over these 2 games I think Eckersley, Hill and Forber have done the most to push their cases for first teams games. I really like what I saw from Forber today in particular, so much so that I’d be tempted to give him a bench spot early in the season and let him have a crack.

I wasn’t aware that I had said that Barrow weren’t the best side, perhaps you can point me in the right direction?

It was a good game. Home advantage played a big part but overall I think the teams were evenly matched.

Last time I checked evenly matched means both sides were the same. An seem to suggest it was because they were at home that they won. They were the better side but doesn’t take anything away from the performance the lads put in

Barrow looked very solid and were much the better side.

Expected a bit more from Wigan today. Forber looked sharper than O’Neill.

I continue to be unimpressed by Miski. Decent carry but slow for a winger.

Looking forward to next week!

The last time I checked teams can be evenly matched even before they play. Playing at home was a big advantage for Barrow but that is not the reason they won. I thought both teams played quite well. Barrow played the conditions better than Wigan and deserved their victory.

He’s a decent squad player Miski but we shouldn’t be using a quota spot on a decent squad player, especially now we cannot replace Bateman. We can’t just bin players off though, so unless something works itself out over the season, it’s going to be tough to get anybody in and that could hurt us. The ideal scenario may well be that Miski is with us for the spell up until Thornley and Hampshire are fit and by that point maybe a deal opens up for an overseas forward and they can work something out. Looking at Zak Eckersley, I’d have no concerns with him getting some games if needed.